Science Fair

Dear Parents,

For many of the students this will be their first major AT HOME individual science project. This project is intended to encourage students to THINK about how things work instead of simply repeating back facts that they have learned. Children are naturally curious, and while fun experiments may be exciting and get students interested in science, the real key to the science fair is for students to learn that the journey through the scientific process can be rewarding -- and
educational. Even scientific study of something simple still requires a systematic process of acquiring knowledge derived from observation and study.

Materials List

Bifold display board (see diagram)
Writing/typing paper
Glue
Materials required for the experiment

NOTE: Students can use the computers at school to type their display material if time allows.

Scientific Methods

What do I want to find out?
What do I already know?
Hypothesis: What do I think will happen? This is a good guess or explanation.
Materials: What materials do I need fo rmy experiment?
Procedure: What are the steps I will follow to test my hypothesis?
Data/ Charts: How did I conclude my results. This involves math skills.
Results: What happened when I did the experiment?
Conclusion: What did I learn?

Scientific Method Vocabulary
Hypothesis - A good guess or explanation to a question in science.
Variables - What are variables?

Recording-   Writing down what is happening in an experiment.
Observation -   Watching and recording what is happening in a scientific experiment.
Conclusion-     Writing about what you learned from the experiment.

Science Fair Timeline

Activities	Deadlines
Orientation on Science Fair by the teacher	October
Finalize research topic Reviews by SRC/IRB Start and complete experiment AFTER approval	November
Complete research Data Analysis Complete poster board	December
Practice presentations School Science Fair	January
Register in Central Regional Science Fair	February
Central Regional Science Fair NMJAS - Regional Contest	March
State Science Fair NMJAS - State Contest	April
Intel ISEF	May